Newsgroups: seattle.general,alt.drugs,talk.politics.drugs,alt.hemp From: [t--oh--n] at [eskimo.com] (Tom Rohan) Subject: Marijuana Initiative Belated Update Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 07:24:29 GMT Well the big news, of course, is that we didn't get enough signatures to get the marijuana initiative on the ballot this year. But we learned a lot of techniques and we know that we can do it and we now know how to do it. If we have 200 volunteers we can get all the signatures we need in 4 days of festivals. The people are out there hungry to sign. We just have to get to them. The people who worked the festivals this year got from 300 to 400 signatures each day per person. With 200 people doing this covering all the festivals we could have over 200,000 signatures in 4 days. Statistically there are 1.3 million Washingtonians who have smoked marijuana. This initiative is not just for them, everybody would benefit, but at least those 1.3 million know that the reefer madness is nonsense. We just have to reach a fraction of them. If you are ready to get this job done please e-mail me and be part of the solution. I am looking for 200 people who will commit to getting at least 1000 signatures each next year. I got over 2000 my ownself so I know its not that hard. A friend of mine started gathering signatures in June and got over 2000 in one month! If we don't get the 200 committed volunteers we will probably not re-submit an initiative next year. Among the most common comments from people signing was, 'I sign every year but it never gets on the ballot.' So if we submit again we need to KNOW it will get on the ballot. The only way to know this is to have the volunteers lined up ahead of time. If we don't have the volunteers we go down the tubes. SO BE ONE OF THE HEMP 200! YAY! >huge applause here< Several good things came out of the initiative process this year. One was the formation of W.H.E.N. (the Washington Hemp Education Network). W.H.E.N.'s goal is to educate lawmakers and citizens about hemp. W.H.E.N. has already made 2 presentations to the Thurston County Democrats and was well received both times. W.H.E.N. is currently setting up other presentations, working on a newsletter, and building its membership. I will post more about W.H.E.N. later. Another thing that came out of the initiative was a more aggressive role by the Drug Policy Foundation (DPF) of Washington. The DPF is currently preparing a candidate survey to present to all Washington state candidates for the November elections to see where they stand on prohibition issues. For the first time the politicians will know we are watching them! I will post a copy of this survey as well as the results as they come in. And finally, the initiative led to the first ever stable Washington state Marijuana Information HOTLINE!!! The number is (206) 548-8043 (a Seattle number). This number will be here for the duration. This number was set up to serve as a clearinghouse for information relating to marijuana legalization issues in Washington state. In 1937 the federal government declared war on all marijuana users. Over 67 million Americans have used marijuana. That's over a third of our population. The sad part is that the prohibitionists have had very little organized opposition during the 57 years they have been hunting down these citizens like animals. Now for the first time in about 20 years that is changing. Now is the time to jump on board and support organizations that are fighting back! We have a window of opportunity here that could very well slam closed in a few years (remember Reagan and Bush!). W.H.E.N. is a non-profit organization. Network membership is $15 annually. If you would like to be a Network member or just send a contribution please send your check to: W.H.E.N. P.O. Box 1217 Olympia, WA 98507 phone - Olympia - (206) 589-8981 phone - Seattle - (206) 548-8043 Membership to the Washington State Chapter of the Drug Policy Foundation (also a non-profit organization) is $25 annually. If you would like to be a member or just send a contribution please send your check to: The Drug Policy Foundation Washington State Chapter 777 - 108th Ave. N.E. M/S 62 Bellevue, WA 98004 phone - (206) 646-3076 fax --- (206) 455-1046 ** The Drug War is the Vietnam of the 90's. ** ===================== *** It is a guerrilla war waged by our *** | END THE DRUG WAR! ** government against its own people. ** ===================== -- ** The Drug War is the Vietnam of the 90's. ** ===================== *** It is a guerrilla war waged by our *** | END THE DRUG WAR! ** government against its own people. ** =====================